


Date Night

by Tamoline



Series: The Map Is Not The Territory [2]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Gen, Takes place several years before canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-22
Updated: 2017-02-22
Packaged: 2018-09-26 08:53:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9877997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tamoline/pseuds/Tamoline
Summary: You can’t quite believe you’re doing this.Okay, you can. Lex asked you to do this, as a favour to him and, well, as ever you’re helpless before his charms.But really? A date with Jimmy Olsen.(Although this is in continuity with The Map Is Not The Territory, it doesn't require having read that.)





	

You can’t quite believe you’re doing this.

Okay, you can. Lex asked you to do this, as a favour to him and, well, as ever you’re helpless before his charms.

“Just give it a try,” he’d said, flashing you that smile of his. “You never know, it might just work out.”

Just thinking about that makes you want to roll your eyes yet again. And that’s before you get to the address where the date’s supposed to take place.

“Really?” you ask the air. “Really?”

Still, you can see Jimmy through the window waiting for you, so it’d be a bit hard to cry off now.

You’re definitely planning on giving Lex an earful later. Or better yet, getting even. But you shelve those thoughts for later, and enter.

“Let me guess,” you say as you advance on Jimmy. “This venue was all Clark’s idea.” Really. A fifties style diner. It has to be. 

On reflection, probably the biggest surprise is that he actually managed to find one in Metropolis. Hah, he’s probably earmarked it to use in wooing Lois. You’d almost like to be a fly on the wall when that happens.

Jimmy’s looking a little fixedly up at you. You offer him a friendly smile as you sit down. It’s undoubtedly not his fault you’re here, after all. “You’re looking nice,” you say. Definitely didn’t have Clark’s help selecting that outfit, you think a little unkindly.

He jerks a little. “You- you too.” He’s nervous. How sweet. You can only imagine that Lex gave him the shovel talk.

But, honestly, if Clark knew you at all, you should probably have been the one threatened. Lex knows better, but it probably amused him more this way around.

You decide to throw him a bone. After all, it’s not like you’ve exactly disliked him on the occasions you’ve spoken with him, the times you’ve been thrown together, the hangers on, the extras to the Great Clark and Lex Show.

“So, how’s the photography going?” you ask.

It’s the right thing to ask. He immediately brightens. “I’ve just managed to sell a few photos, actually,” he says.

You’re not surprised. You’re not an expert, but he’s clearly got talent. You wouldn’t be surprised if someone snaps him up full time sometime soon.

The server comes and goes and you chat for a while, back and forth. The kind of empty insubstantialities that you can almost do in your sleep, that don’t mean anything, don’t really reveal anything. Social lubricant, nothing more.

But you find your attention more drawn to another couple in the diner. Two women, huddled across a table, talking. Shy glances, smiles, laughter. You can’t help it touching something inside you.

It’s… something you’ve been thinking about more and more ever since you’ve been at college. Well, truthfully, you’re fairly sure that some part of you had been thinking about it before then. But boarding school had been far from safe and home even less so, so you’d just shoved… anything like that as far deep and down as you could.

One woman touches the other’s hand and they stop talking, just looking into each other’s eyes and you’re fairly sure that nothing else in the world exists for them. Their heads slowly get closer and then, finally, there’s a kiss that pierces your chest and you look away.

This isn’t for you, isn’t for anyone but them, but you’re suddenly aware that you want that for yourself with a fierceness that hurts.

The server returns and plonks down two large milkshakes. Each glass has two straws sticking out of it. You stare at yours for a long moment, then start giggling.

Jimmy stares at you bemusedly. “What’s funny?’ he asks you.

“Can you imagine?” you ask him in between giggles. “This is Clark’s idea of a smooth move, isn’t it? The two of us, drinking the same milkshake through different straws…” You shake your head and laugh once again.

You notice Jimmy has gone silent and flushed.

“Oh come on,” you say. “There’s no need to be embarrassed. It’s not as though it’s your fault. I don’t know what they were thinking, apart from pairing off the spares. I mean, seriously, what do we even have in common?”

Jimmy looks as though he’s been slapped and you suddenly realise that this may not have been as much a farce for him as it had been for you. 

But… but you’re already laughing and you can’t seem to stop. Peals of laughter that just get louder the more flushed he looks. Finally he just gets up and walks out and you slowly manage to calm down.

You do feel bad for him, but there’s nothing to be done now. And maybe it was for the best anyway.

Everyone in the diner is looking at you and you can see them judging you, condemning you as a bitch.

Even the couple you noticed before, which stings more than it should.

But you know how to play this game. You ignore them, calmly finish your milkshake and exit the diner, leaving enough money for the meal and a substantial tip besides.

* * * * * * * * *

“I think I’m a lesbian,” you tell Lex that night, just to head off any more nonsense of that kind.

He laughs long and loud. “If that was all it took for you to realise it,” he says. “I’d have set you up with little Jimmy Olsen a long time ago.”


End file.
